Waiwhakaiho River

The Waiwhakaiho River begins on Mt Taranaki and flows through New Plymouth, the region’s only city. It is highly valued for its aesthetic, ecological and recreational values, and holds special value for Te Atiawa Iwi. It is also particularly important for native fish and trout habitat.

Ecological health for the Waiwhakaiho catchment is showing improvement in long-term trends. Water quality is expected to improve in coming years as new riparian fencing and planting in the catchment becomes established.

Including Egmont National Park, the Waiwhakaiho catchment has a total of 885 km of stream bank. 71% of the stream banks have riparian vegetation that is either covered by a Taranaki Regional Council riparian management plan (47%) or within the National Park (24%). 63% of stream banks are protected by riparian fencing outside of Egmont National Park and another 24% are protected within the Park. There are stretches of stream bank that are both fenced and planted.

94% of the stream banks outside of Egmont National Park are covered by riparian plans (June 2017).